Design and development

The first version of the aircraft entered service in 1959 as the T2J-1. It was redesignated the T-2A in 1962 under the joint aircraft designation system. The two-seat trainer was powered by one Westinghouse J34-WE-46/48turbojet. The aircraft was subsequently redesigned, and the single engine was replaced with two 3,000 lbf (13,000 N) Pratt & Whitney J60-P-6 turbojets in the T-2B. The T-2C was fitted with two 2,950 lbf (13,100 N) thrust General Electric J85-GE-4 turbojets. The T-2D and T-2E were export versions for the Venezuelan Air Force and Hellenic Air Force, respectively. The T-2 Buckeye (along with the TF-9J) replaced the T2V-1/T-1A SeaStar, though the T-1 continued in some uses into the 1970s.

The Buckeye was designed as a low-cost, multistage trainer. Its straight wing was similar to that used on the FJ-1 Fury and its cockpit controls were similar to the propeller-driven T-28C Trojan. The T-2's performance was between that of the U.S. Air Force's Cessna T-37 Tweet and the U.S. Navy's TA-4J Skyhawk. While it had no built-in armament, the T-2 could accommodate two .50-inch gun pods, 100 lb (45 kg) practice bombs, or 2.75-inch rockets beneath the wings.

Every jet-qualified Naval Aviator and virtually every Naval Flight Officer from the late 1950s until 2004 received training in the T-2 Buckeye, a length of service spanning four decades. The aircraft first exited the Naval Aviator strike pipeline (where it saw its final carrier landings) in 2004,[3] and the Naval Flight Officer tactical jet pipeline in 2008. In the Naval Aviator strike pipeline syllabus and the Naval Flight Officer strike and strike fighter pipeline syllabi, the T-2 has been replaced by the near-sonic McDonnell Douglas T-45 Goshawk (the U.S. Navy version of the BAE Systems Hawk), which is more comparable to other high-performance, subsonic trainers, or the supersonic U.S. Air Force Northrop T-38 Talon.[4] More recently, the T-2 has been used as a director aircraft for aerial drones. Several T-2 Buckeyes, although still retaining their USN markings, are now registered as civilian-owned aircraft with FAA "N" numbers; they regularly appear at airshows.

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